Grist.org has a good article on what Phoenix is doing right in terms of sustainability.

So how is it that this poster child for sprawl and environmental ills is being hailed — albeit by its own government — as an exemplar of sustainability? City leaders are quick to tell anyone willing to listen that not only are they finally getting hip to environmental matters, they’ve been attending to some of them for upwards of thirty years. From using cleaner fuels in their fleet of trucks and buses to implementing an environmental purchasing program, from building a new 20-mile light-rail line to signing the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement, officials have taken concrete steps to right past wrongs.

ASU president Michael Crow.

Perhaps more important than these piecemeal sustainability steps is the city’s partnership with the local university. What’s wrong with the city — the temperature’s rising, for one thing, and development is still skidding out of control — is what makes it such an attractive candidate for a living laboratory. The city’s environmental deficits are educational opportunities for the students and teachers of Arizona State University’s four-year-old Global Institute of Sustainability.

Read the full story at Grist.org here

Maricopa County has been working on a green initiative to save taxpayer’s money and be more environmentally friendly. They plan to enact policy to save energy, use more fuel efficient vehicles, use renewable energy such as solar, and plant roof top gardens to help reduce the heat island effect. Overall this sounds like a great start.

Among the county’s goals and actions to be reached over the next several years:
• Increase recycling and decrease the use of paper. Several departments will increase the use of electronic documents to cut down on hard copies. They also plan to increase by an average of 5 percent each year the amount of recycled and remanufactured products.
• Beef up efforts to reduce air pollution and cut down on travel. By 2012, Environmental Services will have replaced half of its fleet with alternative-fuel or hybrid vehicles. Increasingly, staffers will attend out-of-town meetings electronically rather than in person.

The Department of Public Health, for example, will increase Web use and videoconferencing and, by 2011, will buy a fleet of hybrid vehicles for employees.
• By 2011, at least 5 percent of full-time county employees will telecommute each day. A shorter workweek will be available for eligible employees.
• The Public Works Department will use biodiesel fuel and liquid-propane gas for at least half of its new vehicles and equipment. It also will work with ASU’s sustainability institute to calculate and track the county’s carbon usage and measure the effectiveness of green programs.
• By July 2010, Public Works will implement a program designed to make sure that 75 percent of all new county-owned and county-managed facilities have a renewable energy source – such as solar, wind or hydrogen-fuel cell – as part of the building’s design and construction.

“Our goal is to have every element of Maricopa County – every staff member, every manager, every supervisor – to constantly be looking at the way we do business, so we can save as much resources as possible,” said Joy Rich, an assistant county manager who oversaw the creation of the program. “There are a lot of resources that we consume as an employer. We frankly should’ve done it sooner.”

More over at [azcentral.com]

Being more efficient and less wasteful is great for saving money and with rising energy prices businesses are all in. This among other sustainability topics is what was discussed at the Arizona Chamber of Commerce Sustainability Summit at the Hyatt Regency in Phoenix on Friday.

“Sustainability is about making money,” said Ed Fox, vice president and chief sustainability officer for APS. “Sustainability is a business strategy.”

He encouraged business executives to “stop thinking about sustainability as a green movement,” because that “makes the finance guys think of additional costs.”

Instead, he said APS encourages employees to look for ways to save the company money, like the idea to shut down energy-wasting computer monitors when they’re not in use. The company borrowed the idea from a local school that was pinching pennies.

[Arizona Republic]

On this recent airing of Here and Now on KJZZ they discuss sustainability and what can we do as individuals, and why it makes business sense? They start with Jim Holway of ASU’s Global Institute of Sustainability. Later in the show Thom Hullen of the Arizona League of Conservation Voters and John Neville of Sustainable Arizona discuss sustainability in Arizona with KJZZ’s Steve Goldstein.

To listen click on full story.

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